The American Empire and Economic Collapse

Dashed Hopes

Despite widespread optimism among libertarians, classical liberals, non-interventionists, progressive peaceniks and everybody else opposed to the US Empire that some of its murderous reins may finally be pulled in with the election of Donald Trump, it appears that these hopes have now been dashed.

Since Flynn’s abrupt departure, there has been little talk of a rapprochement with Russia. Instead there has been continued saber rattling by the warmongers whom Trump has, unfortunately, chosen to surround himself with.

The most recent Russia-badgering has come from Secretary of Defense, James “Mad Dog” Mattis who wrongly accused it of “bad behavior”:

“Russia’s violations of international law are now a matter of record from what happened with Crimea to other aspects of their behavior in mucking around other people’s elections and that sort of thing.”***

While candidate Trump correctly spoke of the Iraq War as a disaster and US Middle Eastern policy as a failure, he has done little to alter course in the region. In some instances he has even escalated tensions.  A few ominous examples:

1. Bombing raids of Mosul killing over 200 civilians
2. The deployment of another 1,000 ground troops to Syria
3. Additional US ground troops “expected” to be deployed to Afghanistan
4. Continuous threats to Iran – which is “put on notice”

Iranian Threat

Whip out a magnifying glass and you will immediately realize that the terrible and vast danger posed by axis of weevil member Iran cannot possibly be overemphasized… if you are not quaking in your boots and/or hiding under your desk after contemplating this scary chart, you are fearless enough to apply for a job with the Green Lantern corps! Mail your CV to Oa! - Click to enlarge

“North Korea is behaving very badly.  They have been ‘playing’ the United States for years.  China has done little to help.”****

A number of perceptive commentators think otherwise and have shown that it has been the US that has acted disingenuously over the years.  As Finian Cunningham points out:

“Despite Western media demonization of North Korea as some kind of crazy rogue state, the people there are not fools. They know from family histories the atrocious cost of American war.  And they know that any nation perceived as weak by Washington will be bombed back to the Stone Age.”*****

Costly Escalation and a Silver Lining

These trends, and the President’s unnecessary request for increased “defense spending,” all point to more of the same for US overseas relations.  In fact, there will most likely be continued military escalation if the likes of General “Mad Dog” Mattis get their way.

It is now apparent that the only way in which significant change will come about in American foreign affairs will be if there is a severe financial crisis which impairs the nation enough so that it can no longer bankroll its military adventurism.  History has a number of examples of this.

Great Britain, which the US Empire is largely patterned after, lost its empire when it became financially exhausted, in large part due to its insane decision to enter the two World Wars of the past century.

Fighting in those conflagrations drained Britain of its wealth and devastated it demographically – from which it, and the rest of Europe, have never recovered.

Couple this with an onerous tax burden, an inflationist monetary policy which has destroyed the purchasing power of the dollar, and a gargantuan public debt and you have primed the country for a financial cataclysm.

Despite the dramatic fall in the standard of living and the immense social strife and unrest that an economic collapse would bring about, there is a silver lining.

Like Great Britain before it, a financial crisis and/or the loss of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency would force the US to abandon its overseas empire – closing bases, bringing troops home, and stopping intervention in the myriad of arenas across the planet.

A defunct US Empire would also be bad news and mean grisly retribution for all those lackeys and puppets who have been supported and propped up by American might: another positive aspect to the end of the Empire.

The collapse will mean America, too, will face reprisals from all those who have suffered under its hegemony.  The payback will come from both economic warfare as the US has used through its “Dollar Diplomacy” to control and manipulate foreign economies and by some sort of military humiliation.

The impact of an economic collapse could be mitigated somewhat if the US abandoned its role as global policeman as resources squandered abroad would  then become available for the rebuilding of the domestic economy while, at the same time, hostility with America’s adversaries would be reduced.